Nonwoven fabrics having patterns of areas of low fiber density or holes and patterns of fiber bundles of parallelized consolidated fiber segments, have been known for some time. Such fabrics have had acceptance in the market place and a number of methods and apparatus for producing such fabrics have been developed. Broadly, these fabrics contain a predetermined pattern of areas of low fiber density or holes arranged throughout the fabric. The predetermined pattern of areas of low fiber density or holes is partially or entirely defined by yarn-like fiber bundles; that is, small areas in which fiber segments are consolidated and parallelized along the edges or about the periphery of the holes or areas of low fiber density. The junctures in the fabric; that is, the areas where the fiber bundles intersect one another, may have different configurations. The fibers at these junctures lie in a more or less random configuration with portions of fibers extending to various fiber bundles which enter the intersections. In some instances, the junctures may comprise an area of highly entangled fiber segments. Some of the techniques for manufacturing these fabrics are more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,862,251 to Frank Kalwaites and U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,706 to Franklin James Evans.
Fabrics of the type described above may contain an additive adhesive to improve the strength and other characteristics of the fabric. The adhesive may be printed on in a pattern or the fabric may be overall impregnated with the adhesive. In some instances, the fabric may have adequate strength in the absence of any adhesive.